Gaydon Neighbourhood Watch

Gaydon Report

April was a quiet month for Gaydon.

Surrounding Villages

Apart from break-ins at Ashorne, Kineton and licensed premises at Avon Dasset the area has been generally quiet.

Alerts

Following incidents in Kineton, Wellesbourne and Stratford the Police have again issued an alert about potential distraction burglaries from persons posing as utility officials. No-one should be allowed to enter a house merely by knocking on a door and claiming to be from the Water Company, Gas "Board" or similar bodies. If you are not 100% certain of their identity send them away and insist on a formal prearranged appointment.

Community Policing

A new Police Sergeant, Darren Fretwell, has been appointed to our areaand will work with our PC Cuthbertson. Sgt Fretwell is a former RAF pilot and West Midlands police officer. He has joined the rural neighbourhood policing team and is enjoying the return to his "home" county. He was born in Dunchurch, near Rugby, and has lived in his present home in south Warwickshire for the past three years. During his time with West Midlands Police he worked within a crime fighting unit, drugs and robbery teams covering such areas as West Bromwich and Handsworth.

His new area covers 150 square miles from the edge of Stratford and takes in Shipston, Wellesbourne, Kineton and Gaydon. He will be based in Shipston and will be responsible for the Community Police Officers that operate in our area.

Flag

The flag was raised in April for the birthdays of William Shakespeare and George Rickman; and for St Georges Day.

What do you hope for?

What would you like the Church to do, and be, for you?

What would make you feel comfortable to share in the life and activities of the Church, as part of our village life?

What a lot of whats!

Please join us on Thursday 4 May at 7.30pm in the Village Hall and tell us your views - we'll be there to listen.

You will have heard that the vicars of two neighbouring parishes are due to retire. We'll be able to share with you plans for the resulting reorganisation. Everbody is welcome. MP

Friendship Club

We shall be meeting at Offchurch, Banbury Road, on Tuesday 16 May at 2.30pm by kind invitation of Mrs Betty Davies.

Saturday Coffee Morning & Market

The Village Hall will be open for coffee, tea and biscuits and for the sale of other produce on Saturday 13 May at 11am. This month and next we hope to be able to sell some plants. If you have any left over after planting out please bring them along; or if you would like to buy, now is the opportunity to do so. All proceeds go to the Church Fabric Fund.

Parish Council AGM

The Annual General Meeting of the Parish Council will be held on Tuesday 2 May at 8pm in the Village Hall. All villagers are welcome to come along and hear what the council has been doing on behalf of Gaydon over the past year and what is planned for the next. District and county councillors will also be present.

Village Hall News

Gaydon Village Hall Annual General Meeting Tuesday 9 May at 8pm. All Villagers are invited to attend this meeting.

Church Services for May 2006 AD

Weekday Services

The Eucharist will be celebrated at 11am on Wednesday 24th. There will be a Eucharist on Ascension Day at 7pm at Burton Dassett.

Obituary

We record with sorrow the death of Frederick George Liddington at the age of 81. Our sympathy is sent to Violet, Mick, Peter and Wendy; also to Francis his brother and the rest of the family.

Thanks

Jennifer and Russell Greenwood and family would like to thank all their friends in Gaydon for their kindness and many cards of sympathy on the death of Jennifer's mother, Gladys Craven.

Welcome

Welcome to Alistair, Jo & Gemma Hotchkiss who have come to live in Kineton Road; and Joan Hare who has moved into Church Lane! We hope that they will be very happy here in Gaydon.

Gaydon Fête

Don't forget that this year's fête is on Saturday July 8th and we are keen to hear from people with ideas and from anyone who can offer help beforehand or on the day. The plan at the moment is to hold it in the field at the back of Church Lane.

We are planning to run a fête with stalls and a dog show, as well as a car boot sale and a tug of war competition, and maybe a beer tent or bar. Barnfield will be running stalls and teas and we are hoping to have a barbecue and some music in the early evening.

If you have any ideas or want to run a stall or event at the fête please contact one of the committee:

Anna Perry 641971, Heather Golding 640953, Madeleine Hill 640636 or Sue Simmonds at Barnfield on 640521. It has also been suggested that this year's fête should be run to raise money towards the fund for buying the field for the village.

Mobile Library

The van will call at Gaydon during May on Thursdays 4th and 18th; and Thursday 1st June.

Nature Notes

The protracted cold spell seems to have ended at last!

The first sign of this was the appearance of Brimstone and Orange-tip butterflies: the former from hibernation and the latter from overwintering pupae. Plant life, too, is now evident in Willow catkins and attendant bees; and larger Bumble bee queens in search of both nectar and new nest sites. Primroses and violets are in the hedgerows and there are good displays on Warmington Hill and the edge of Chesterton Woods. The Cowslips or Oxslips restored by the contractors near the roundabout have also begun to flower.

Many villagers have reported a single Long-tailed tit in their gardens

which may be the sole survivor of a large family group; let us hope it will find another social grouping to join.

The discovery of yet another large Polecat, this time on a bridle way, confirms that this species is establishing itself here on the heels of a large food source of Rabbits. Their bodies are not the favourite carrion, due to their strong Mustalid smell, so remain untouched by Corvids and Buzzards! Rabbits and rats are more tasty and last only a few hours before Magpies and foxes eat them up! Roadkill in the form of young foxes and Badgers is very evident at this time of year, as these inexperienced young animals misjudge the traffic on our local roads with fatal results.

Nesting birds are in full song now around Gaydon and there is an orchestra of Goldfinches, Blackbirds, thrushes and robins through the day. No Cuckoo as yet; and swallows and Martins will be due soon as insect numbers increase. It will be interesting to see if there is a further decline in numbers this year. I enjoyed watching a pair of Green Plovers, which are sometimes known as Lapwings or Peewits, in a meadow off Watery Lane this week. They have they a nest somewhere in the set-aside but do their best to put you off by dive-bombing and frantic calling. Like the adult birds the eggs too are green and were once a great delicacy. In more, I hope, enlightened times they are quite a scarce bird and rightly protected.

In the same location, a Red Kite has been using a dead tree as a "Lookout" for the past few days - perhaps it will return in the future. Bernard Price

Car Washing

If you would like your car washed for the brilliant price of £3.50 please call Lewis Warner on 07747346525.